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post in March, 1796, and after a series of successful battles drove the Austrians into Mantua. Four attempts to relieve the city were made by the enemy, but failed, and in February, 1797, Wurmser, the Austrian general, surrendered. Bonaparte then drove the rest of the Austrian force from Italy, and in October, 1797, signed the treaty of Campo Formio.

In May, 1798, he undertook the conquest of Egypt. He succeeded in entering the country and taking possession of Cairo and Alexandria, but on August 1, at the Battle of the Nile, the French fleet was destroyed by the English under Nelson. A disastrous expedition into Syria occupied the spring of 1799. On returning to Egypt, Bonaparte received news of political disturbances in France, and leaving the army under Kléber he went to Paris, where, by the coup d' état of the 18th and 19th Brumaire (November 9 and 10) he became First Consul. During Bonaparte's absence in Egypt, war had again broken out between France and Austria, and the First Consul hurried against the enemy. The Battle of Marengo on June 14, 1800, again drove the Austrians from Italy, and February, 1801, peace was concluded. A treaty with England followed in March, 1802.